Chelsea player ratings: MOTM for Kepa, large dose of context for Jorginho

Trigger Warning: The following contains criticism of Jorginho despite his goal against Fulham. In fact, his goal against Fulham is part of the criticism. Please skip this page and go directly to the forwards or read another of our wonderful articles if this is a sensitive matter for you.

Jorginho, Midfielder: 6.5

Jorginho has taken 13 shots in the Premier League this season. All were taken with his right boot. All but one were taken from just above the top of the box. Setting aside the three that were blocked, the majority were moderately-powered curlers aimed at the top corner.

That is to say, just as we often talk about how one-dimensional Jorginho’s play is in midfield, he also only has one shot. You’ve seen it many times before, but what you did not see until Sunday was one of them going in the net.

Jorginho’s goal changes nothing about the overall evaluation of his season, particularly since it did not show any new elements of his game that we (and all of Chelsea’s opponents) have not seen many times before. He did not try a new shot from a new position – he did what he always does. As he does in midfield, as he did in the penalty shoot-out against Manchester City. The goal validates nothing, redeems nothing, proves nothing other than what happens if you throw enough s*** against the wall. It was valuable inasmuch as it put Chelsea ahead 2-1, which held as the final score. The only thing exceptional was where the shot ended up.

Other than the goal, Jorginho was wasteful in midfield, misplacing passes, missing tackles and turning over the ball. He and Ross Barkley increased the pressure on Chelsea’s defence by doing so little to keep the Championship-bound Cottagers from riding their new manager bounce through the middle of the pitch.

N’Golo Kante, Midfielder: 7

In the early stages of the game Chelsea were building pressure in Fulham’s box and the ball came out to N’Golo Kante a few yards above the penalty area. Four Fulham players rushed to close down his shooting lane. One of them blocked his shot and the ball came out to Eden Hazard just above the corner of the area. Two Fulham players gently stood off Eden Hazard, showing nowhere near the level of concern they did over the ball falling to Kante.

It’s as if they know that Kante is Chelsea’s top offensive threat other than Eden Hazard. On the day, he was probably above Hazard.

Ross Barkley, Midfielder: 5

If this performance was not enough for Ruben Loftus-Cheek to get the next Premier League start, Loftus-Cheek may want to put himself on the Callum Hudson-Odoi program of threatening to leave. Barkley is all out of sorts, rushing into poor decisions and equally lacklustre execution. He seems out of place with Chelsea’s circuits and is overall leaving a gap on the pitch.